


What Love Feels Like

by warrior_of_wisdom



Series: Castle Town Coffee Shop [6]
Category: The Legend of Zelda & Related Fandoms, The Legend of Zelda (Video Game 1986), The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past
Genre: Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Blue is being a good friend, Gen, Implied/Referenced Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Legend (Linked Universe)-centric, Linked Universe (Legend of Zelda), Malon is best mom, Running Away, The others just want to help
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-25
Updated: 2020-08-25
Packaged: 2021-03-06 14:55:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,417
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26110750
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/warrior_of_wisdom/pseuds/warrior_of_wisdom
Summary: It was just a mishap, but it might have caused the entire life Legend had built for himself over the past month and everything else to come crashing down around him.It's a good thing that Time, Malon, and the rest of the employees at Castle Town Coffee Shop weren't going to let that happen.
Relationships: Hyrule & Legend (Linked Universe), Legend & Time (Linked Universe)
Series: Castle Town Coffee Shop [6]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1883869
Comments: 21
Kudos: 143





	What Love Feels Like

**Author's Note:**

> I've literally been waiting to write this for so long and I'm so glad that it finally happened.  
> Here's our *technical* first climax in this story!
> 
> TW: mentions of abuse from "But he couldn't do that" to "he tried to get lost in the music."

In all honesty, Legend had thought this would be a good day.

It had started off well. His mother had left him alone in the morning, and he was able to make it to work on time. Nobody took notice of the extra makeup, and if they did notice, they didn’t bring it up. Wind had met his soulmate. Everything seemed to be okay.

How had it all gone so wrong?

It started with the phone call. It was around his lunch break, when he, Blue, Twilight, and Wind were sitting at the table. Wind was recapping the events of his first meeting with Tetra, and the other three were listening intently, until Legend’s phone rang.

“I’ll get it,” he said, walking over to where the phone sat. “It’s my little brother.”

He picked up the phone, sighing. “Hyrule, you know not to-”

_“Where are you?”_

Legend froze, his entire body turning to ice. “...Mom?”

_“That was a question, you brat. Where are you? Don’t lie to me. I can tell if you do.”_

Legend gulped, forcing saliva down his throat as he swallowed, almost gagging. “At work.”

_“When’d a useless idiot like you get a job?”_

“About a month ago,” he murmured quietly. “Which you’d know if you paid attention,” he added, slipping an ounce of hate into his voice.

_“Don’t be smart with me, young man. I want you home right now.”_

“What if I don’t go?”

There was silence on the other end of the phone for a moment.

_“Legend, please come home. We’re both gonna get in more trouble if you don’t.”_

Legend could feel a burning heat building up in his stomach, swallowing and forcing himself to keep his cool. “You wouldn’t dare.”

_“Get home now, and you’ll see.”_

The phone beeped, and Legend pulled it away from his ear. Distantly, he could register falling to the ground, Blue quickly catching him and carrying him to the couch.

“Legend! Legend, are you okay? Can you hear me?”

He could feel Wind’s hand grasping his own, the younger boy holding his hand close to his chest and staring into his glassy eyes.

“Please answer me,” he pleaded, trembling.

Legend shook his head, sitting up from his position. “I’m fine,” he said gruffly, though his voice cracked. “I need to go home.”

“Absolutely not!” he heard someone gasp from the doorway, and Malon came rushing into the room. “Legend, you haven’t been acting the same since you left a couple days ago. Are you sick? Do you need help? I have medicine if you-”

“I’m _fine,”_ he snapped. “And I _need_ to go home.”

“I don’t think you should-”

“You don’t get it!” he yelled. “I _have_ to go.”

He flinched upon seeing the hurt in Malon’s eyes. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean-”

She rushed forward, pulling him into a hug. “Come back safe, honey,” she said, squeezing Legend’s trembling form, and it was then that he realized that he was crying. “We all love you so much.”

Legend nodded, wiping his eyes. 

“When are you gonna be back?” Wind asked, tugging on his arm. Legend’s eyes burned as he saw him holding onto his arm, and he couldn’t help but be reminded of when Hyrule would hold onto him tightly on nights where he just couldn’t sleep.

“I might not,” he whispered. “But I’ll try my best.”

He looked around, seeing that Wild, Sky, and Time had entered the room during his meltdown. Blue was looking him over with a mix of sadness and determination, while Twilight was trying his best to hold back something he wanted to say. Wind looked like he wanted to cry, and Wild and Sky were eyeing him with sympathy.

As he looked over to Time, the older man placed a hand on his shoulder. “You’re strong, Legend,” he said. “You’ll make it through whatever life has in store for you.”

Legend pulled him into a quick hug, murmuring, “Thanks for giving me a chance.”

“I don’t intend for this to end,” Time said, looking down at him with fondness. “Trust me when I say that everyone in this room has your back if you need it.”

Legend bit his lip. “Thank you,” he said, grabbing his bag and walking out of the break room for what might have been the last time.

The whole walk home, he was contemplating what he should have done. Should he have brought someone with him? Should he have told everyone what was going on? What if he turned around, ran away, and never came back? Maybe change his name and move to Labrynna?

But he couldn’t do that. Hyrule needed him too much.

So he steeled himself, walking into the apartment building.

He took his key out of his pocket, unlocking the door with fumbling hands. The apartment was completely dark when he walked inside, which was already a bad sign. Mom always covered the windows when she planned on being especially violent.

He could faintly see his mother standing in the middle of the room, the tiniest bit of light outlining her silhouette. “Took you long enough,” she barked. “Close the door.”

Legend shut the door behind him, hanging his bag on the door. He didn’t say a word as he walked into the living room.

“What do you have to say for yourself?” she asked, pushing him to the ground.

“Sorry for trying to feed _your_ kid when you didn’t care,” Legend said, testing his limits. “I got that job so I could make sure my little brother ate. You just cared about alcohol.”

“Why didn’t you tell me about this job of yours?”

“Because you would have made me give you the money. I wasn’t going to let that happen, since you were obviously going to waste it all.”

“I didn’t raise you to be such a brat.”

“You didn’t raise me at all,” Legend shot back, standing up only to be shoved back down.

“You should be grateful for everything I’ve done!” she screeched. “You owe me everything, you little-”

“I don’t owe you a single thing,” Legend said, glaring up at her with a ferocity he had never felt before. “You abused me for seventeen years. You let me go hungry when I needed food to survive. When I dare stand up for myself, you beat me down because you don’t know what else to do. You never did anything for me _or_ Hyrule.”

“I put you on this planet!”

“Jokes on you, I didn’t even ask to be born!”

His head whipped to the side as she slapped him across the face, and he could taste metal in his mouth as his teeth clamped down on his tongue.

“Don’t talk back to me,” she said, pulling him up by the collar.

“I’ll do whatever I want. I’m almost an adult. You can’t control me.”

“I’m your mother, and you’ll do what I say.”

“That’s not how this works.”

“Don’t tell me how to be a parent!”

“Maybe I should. I’ve been raising your son, after all.”

The next punch, and the one after that, and all the ones after that were worth it because at least he had finally gotten his message through.

  
  
  


Hyrule curled up in his blanket, trying his best to block out his brother’s cries of pain. He had turned up the music on his headphones all the way up, but his screams still haunted him and he could feel the tears streaming down his face as he tried to get lost in the music.

The door opened, and Legend stumbled in, collapsing on the bed. Hyrule looked over at him, seeing that his brother was completely unconscious. Being as careful as he could, he lifted him the rest of the way onto the bed, arranging his brother in a way that looked comfortable. As an afterthought, he pulled the blanket off of his shoulders, shivering as the cold air hit his shoulders, and draped it over Legend’s still form.

“I’m sorry,” he said, his voice trembling. “She made me tell her everything. I’m so sorry.”

“Shut up!” he could hear from the other room, and Hyrule winced, rubbing his arm. He could still feel the bruises.

Hyrule put his headphones back in, turning down the music and cuddling close to his brother. He grabbed the other blanket from the end of the bed, pulling it over his body and sighing deeply.

He could feel Legend’s heartbeat against his chest, and he sighed in relief. At least he was still alive.

Hyrule let himself drift off, losing himself in the warmth of his brother’s body and the music. His eyes drifted shut, and he snuggled closer to Legend. He was close to falling asleep, until something in Legend’s pocket started buzzing.

He opened his eyes, slipping Legend’s phone out of his pocket. There was a phone call coming in, from a name that Hyrule didn’t recognize.

Well, it wouldn’t hurt to pick it up.

  
  
  


“Please pick up, please pick up, please pick up,” Blue whispered, pacing the break room and staring down at the phone screen. As soon as the timer showed up, he and the others almost cried in relief. “Legend! Thank Hylia you’re okay-”

_“Uh… this isn’t Legend.”_

The entire room went silent. After a moment, Blue asked, “Who is this?

_“I’m his little brother, Hyrule.”_

“Can we talk to him?” Wind blurted out, looking away in shame. “Sorry.”

_“He’s kinda… out right now.”_

“What’s going on?” Time asked, raising his voice so that he could be heard.

_“Um… he’s asleep. I don’t know when he’s gonna wake up.”_

“Is he okay?” Blue said, biting his lip in concern.

_“...I don’t know if I can say.”_

“We’re friends of his, I promise,” he said, sitting down next to Sky and Malon. “You can tell us.”

_“...”_

“It’s okay, honey,” Malon said, taking the phone from Blue, who shot her an offended glance. “I promise it’s gonna be okay.”

They could hear Hyrule taking a deep breath on the other end of the phone, before he spoke again. _“Um… how do I say this… Our mom isn’t the nicest person in the world. She’s, uh, addicted to alcohol, and she gets really mad really easily. A lot of times, she takes that anger out on the two of us.”_

Everyone went silent again, and the change in mood was visible in the room. Malon was on the verge of tears, while Twilight, Time, and Blue looked ready to murder someone. Wind looked like he was going to be sick, Wild’s hand was covering his mouth, and Sky’s lips were parted in a shocked expression.

“What do you mean by that?” Blue asked, barely masking his anger as he took the phone back from Malon.

_“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to make you upset-”_

“I’m not upset, buddy,” he said, switching to a more gentle tone of voice. “Not at you, at least.”

_“Oh… okay.”_

“Are you okay?” Blue asked, keeping the same gentleness in his voice.

_“Everything hurts, but I’ve been through worse. I’ll survive.”_

Blue let out a quiet breath, sighing in relief. “Hyrule, honey, there’s something I want you to do once Legend wakes up.”

_“What do you need?”_

“I want the two of you to get out of there. No matter what it takes, I want you two out of that house.”

_“But we have nowhere to go…”_

“Tell Legend that the Foresters said he had to leave.”

“We never-”

“You were about to, don’t deny it,” Blue said. “Legend will know where to go from there,” he said to Hyrule.

_“Okay…”_

“I’m gonna hang up now,” he said. “Unless you want me to stay on the phone?”

_“I don’t wanna get caught,”_ Hyrule mumbled. _“I’m gonna hang up now.”_

The phone beeped, and everyone was silent.

After a moment, Wind asked, “Why didn’t he say anything? I could tell that there was something going on, but I didn’t think it was that bad…”

“He might not have felt safe telling anyone,” Time said. “Legend might have thought that there was nowhere for him to go.”

“I can’t believe we didn’t notice sooner,” Wild said. “Flora told me there was something up with him—I can’t believe I didn’t investigate sooner…”

“Don’t blame yourself,” Time said. “At least he’s getting out of that situation. That’s the best we could have hoped for.”

  
  
  


Legend opened his eyes, groaning at the faint light that shone in the room.

Almost instantly, he could feel Hyrule’s hand on his shoulder. “Legend, we have to go.”

“Wha…”

“The Foresters said you and I had to leave. Come on.”

At the mention of Time and Malon, Legend fully opened his eyes. “What?”

“One of your coworkers called while you were asleep.”

“Hyrule… what did you say?”

“...They know everything. I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay,” Legend soothed, seeing the frantic expression on his face. “You said that they said that we need to leave.”

“Yeah. They said you would know where to go.”

Legend nodded, slowly standing up. “Grab everything you want to bring. We’re getting out of here as soon as possible.”

He walked to the bathroom on sore feet, grabbing the bag he had left under the sink for that very purpose. He looked it over, making sure that it still contained everything he needed.

After rummaging through it for the second time, he slung it over his shoulder, he went back to the bedroom. Hyrule was standing there, wearing his hoodie, jeans, and glasses. There was a dark mark on one of the lenses, but Legend chose not to focus on that. He grabbed his sweatshirt from the bed, pulling it over and making sure the hood covered the countless bruises on his face. “You ready to leave?”

“Let’s get out of here,” he said, walking to the door. The two of them tiptoed out of the apartment, locking the door behind them and sprinting down the stairs. As soon as they were out of the building, Legend sighed in relief. 

They were never going back, not if he could help it.

“Follow me, and stay close,” he hissed, turning right and walking down the block.

“Where are we going?” Hyrule asked, running to catch up with him. 

“My boss’s apartment. I’m pretty sure they’ll let us stay; Time and Malon are good people.”

“Okay…”  
They walked for about another ten minutes, Legend nearly about to pass out from exhaustion. As soon as the familiar sign for the coffee shop came into view, he nearly cried out. “We’re almost there, ‘Rule,” he said. 

As soon as he reached the door, he pulled the key out of his pocket, fitting it into the lock and pushing the door open. The two walked past the tables, entering the break room. Legend walked over to the door in the back of the room, opening it and walking up the stairs. “Moment of truth.”

He knocked on the door at the top of the stairs, and Malon immediately opened the door. “Come in, honey, I just finished dinner,” she said, smiling.

Legend bit his lip, saying, “Thank you,” before entering. Hyrule was right behind him, looking around the apartment.

Everyone was still there. Legend saw Blue, Time, and Sky sitting on the couch, with Wind curled up next to Twilight on the loveseat and Wild sitting with his legs crossed on the ottoman.

“You’re okay,” Blue sighed, his shoulders drooping in relief.

“Your brother told us everything,” Time said. “Legend… why didn’t you say anything?”

“I didn’t want to pull you guys into my mess,” he mumbled. “I’ve dealt with this for seventeen years now. I could have dealt with it for a little while longer.”

“We would have been happy to help,” Wind argued, but Time shushed him. The young teenager sighed, rolling his eyes.

“Yeah, I figured that out now,” Legend said, biting his tongue to keep anything unsavory from slipping out. “Oh, and this is my little brother, Hyrule,” he said, stepping out of the way. Hyrule looked up from where he was staring at the carpet, giving them a small wave.

“Do you two want anything to drink?” Malon asked from the small kitchen. “Everyone’s staying for dinner tonight.”

“Water’s fine,” Legend said. “‘Rule? You want anything?”

“Water, please,” he murmured.

“You two can sit down if you want,” Twilight said. “The two of us can move.”

“Thanks,” Legend said, rubbing the back of his neck before remembering he was still wearing his hood.

The two of them sat down, Hyrule leaning into Legend’s side. A minute later, Malon brought out two glasses of water, and a platter of sandwiches. “Dig in.”

A few minutes later, when everybody had dug into the food, Legend said, “Thanks. For all of this. The two of us have never really had anything stable to rely on, so… thanks.”

“It’s no problem,” Malon said, gazing at him with sympathy. “Honey, you know we love you.”

“Um, excuse me,” Hyrule said, his voice barely audible. “I had a question.”

“What is it, honey?”

“...You’re not gonna make us leave, are you?”

Malon gasped. “Of course not!” she said, placing a hand over her heart. “After hearing everything, we’d never make you go anywhere if you don’t want to.”

Hyrule’s shoulders slumped. “Okay.”

“You two will always be welcome here,” Malon said. “We consider all of you a part of our family, okay? If you ever need any help, we’re always here.”

“Thank you,” Legend said. “And if it’s not too much trouble-”

“You’re welcome to stay,” Time said. “The two of you can stay here for as long as you need, unless you want to leave. If so, I have a couple of friends who would definitely be willing to take the two of you in.”  
Legend nodded, trying his best to keep himself from crying. He sucked in a deep breath, slowly exhaling. “Thank you so much for everything.”

“It’s no problem, sweetheart,” Malon said. “We’re so proud of you for being so brave.”

And the floodgates broke.

He was sobbing, not even paying attention to what was going on around him as Hyrule clung to his arm and Malon flew to his side. “Did I say something wrong?” she asked, concerned.

“It’s just… nobody’s really ever said that to me before,” he said, wiping his face. Malon gently placed a hand on his shoulder.

“Well, they should have,” she said firmly. “There’s so many amazing things that you’ve done, Legend. I’m very proud of you, okay?”

Legend nodded, raising his hands to his hood, before hesitating. “Uh, everyone? Please promise not to freak out.”

“Why— _oh.”_

There was a collective gasp as they saw the bruising on his face, and Legend looked away. “It hurts a lot less than it looks, I promise.”

“Legend… how many days did you come into work looking like this?” Time asked, remembering how on some days, he wore more makeup than others.

“It probably doesn’t help that I actually don’t know, does it?”

“Not at all.”

“I have some ice, and Tylenol if you want any,” Malon said, jumping up from her place on the loveseat and walking to the kitchen. She came back with a bag of ice, towel, and a small bottle of pills.

“Thanks,” he mumbled, wrapping the towel around the ice and holding it to his forehead, which hurt the worst. He opened the bottle, taking out one of the pills and quickly swallowing. “I’m kinda tired,” he said, rubbing his eyes.

“The two of you can take the guest room,” Time said. “There’s only one bed, I’m afraid.”

“We’re used to sharing,” Legend said, standing up and grabbing his bag. Just before entering the hallway, he mumbled one last time, “Thanks.”

Hyrule was seconds behind him, and they walked into the guest room. The two didn’t even bother changing before falling onto the bed, Legend pulling his little brother into a tight hug.

Hyrule was fast asleep in seconds, while Legend laid awake for a little while longer. He let his thoughts wander, thinking about how lucky he had gotten to get this job. How lucky he was to have Time and Malon and everyone else in his life. How lucky they had been for their mother to be asleep when they left.

They had gotten so lucky.

Legend looked back over at his brother’s sleeping figure. “It’s gonna be okay, ‘Rule,” he said.

“We’re home.”

**Author's Note:**

> A sort-of conclusion to our first story arc! Don't worry, this isn't anywhere near the end—there's so much more to come! I'm still taking requests—I'll write for Time/Malon, Wild/Flora, Twilight/Midna, Legend/Marin, Sky/Sun, and Wind/Tetra. More stuff will be coming soon!


End file.
